Strong First Half Carries Lutes Past Whitworth, 39-21

PUYALLUP - Pacific Lutheran scored three
touchdowns in the opening quarter on Saturday afternoon and carried
that momentum through to a 39-21 Northwest Conference football
victory over the visiting Whitworth Pirates at Sparks
Stadium.

Starting a season with a 4-0 record for the first time since
2007, the Lutes, now 2-0 in the conference, made a big play on
special teams and on defense to take a 19-0 lead after one period.
Whitworth, meanwhile, falls to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the
conference.

Kyle
Whitford returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to the Whitworth
14-yard line, and after barely converting on a fourth-and-one at
the 5-yard line, the Lutes scored when Whitford swept right from
the 1-yard line on second down.

After the Lutes stopped the Whitworth on a fourth-and-one at
their own 37-yard line, they drove down the field in 10 plays,
scoring on Jordan
Rasmussen's 24-yard pass to Drew
Griffin, making the score 12-0. The next big play came on
defense when Richard Isett forced Whitworth quarterback Andrew
DeFelice to fumble and Isett's teammate Colby
Davies scooped up the ball and galloped 52 yards for the
touchdown.

PLU increased its lead to 25-0 halfway through the second
quarter, driving 88 yards in six plays, culminated by Rasmussen's
8-yard fade pass to Greg
Ford in the corner of the end zone. Rasmussen hit Whitford
on 44- and 17-yard passes during the drive.

Whitworth finally got on the board with 1:53 left in the half
when Adam Anderson ran through a host of PLU tacklers on a 14-yard
scoring run, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play
meant that the Pirates had to kick off from their 15-yard line.
That set up the Lutes at their own 43-yard line, and they took four
plays to get in the end zone once again, this time on Rasmussen's
3-yard toss to Isaac Moog.

At the half, Rasmussen was 13-for-15 for 185 yards and three
touchdowns and the Lutes had a 254-128 advantage in total
yards.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, Whitworth
getting on the board on Anderson's 3-yard blast. The senior
tailback carried the ball six times for 37 yards on the seven-play,
50-yard drive. Anderson, the 2007 and 2008 Northwest
Conference Offensive Player of the Year, would finish the game with
136 nets yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, one catch for
eight yards, and three kickoff returns for 60 yards.

After Whitworth's touchdowns, the Lutes used a little
razzle-dazzle to make the score 39-14. On a triple reverse with
Rasmussen pitching to Alec
Simmons, Simmons pitching to Kyle Whitford, and Whitford
pitching to Ford, Ford pulled up and threw a 36-yard scoring bomb
to Moog, who made a finger tip catch before falling into the end
zone.

The Pirates finished the scoring in the fourth quarter, putting
together their most impressive drive of the game and scoring on
Taylor Eglet's 10-yard pass to Jake DeGooyer. Whitworth drove 84
yards in 13 plays before tallying with 2:39 left.

PLU ended up with a 372-321 edge in total yards, though
Whitworth had more first downs 23-18) and more time of possession
(33:32-26:28).

While Anderson finished with 136 rushing yards, the Pirates had
a team net of only 133 yards. DeFelice and Eglet combined to
complete 15-of-28 passes for 188 yards, but they took three sacks
between them, two of those by PLU linebacker Steven
McDonald. John Ingman had three receptions for 44 yards and
DeGooyer had three catches for 37 yards.

Defensively for the Pirates, Danny Engel and Layton Brown both
were in on eight tackles, and Engel had a pair of tackles for
loss.

Simmons toted the ball 15 times for 72 of PLU's 122 rushing
yards. Rasmussen ended up 16-for-22 for 214 yards, Moog had five
receptions for 68 yards, Ford had four catches for 34 yards, and
Whitford had three grabs for 77 yards.